Making presents enables you to show creative flair

It's been a tough year for many but more and more are meeting the challenge by living off the smell of an oily rag.
It's Christmas again already so we thought it appropriate to reflect on some of the best Christmas tips. The oily rag trick is to be generous, but frugal. Being a creative lot, oily raggers do this in many ways.
Make a list of those on your Christmas gift list, the maximum amount to be spent on each gift, and the sort of thing they may appreciate. Stick to a budget, and even better, set yourself a challenge of spending less.
Check out the number of credits you have on your reward cards, such as Fly Buys. Redeem your points for products or vouchers and use them as gifts. This is a great way to save cash. A reader redeems their rewards for gift vouchers and gives these as presents. That means the person receiving the voucher can use them to buy whatever they want and they can buy when the New Year sales are on so their voucher buys more.
Make your own gift vouchers - a free car wash, babysitting, lawn mowing ... all sorts of things.
Have a kids-only Christmas. One reader says their family give presents only to kids.
Gift baskets are always popular, but why not make them a little different? Have a theme: sweet treats, or herbs and spices, or Indian cooking, or cleaning products, or coffees and teas, or home-baked goodies like bread and biscuits, or summer fruits.
Have a make or bake Christmas - only exchange gifts that have been made or baked by the giver. Start making now - pottery, a painting, a calendar featuring family photos, or print a photo annual, or make a family recipe book featuring each person's favourite recipes.
Give a tree. There are lots of gardens with self-sown native trees that can be replanted without difficulty. Present it in a special pot and there you have a gift that is everlasting, great for the environment, and can be enjoyed for years. Or what about giving a sunflower plant? Kids love them and it's a real treat to see them grow into huge happy flowers. Give seeds, vege plants, herbs, or fruit trees to encourage family and friends to grow their own - it's easy, rewarding, saves loads of money and is good for you.
Other do-it-yourself gift ideas include making a bird feeder out of wood. Or what about decorating a brolly - take a plain coloured umbrella and add drawings and decorations to personalise it. Or personalise kitchen containers, like cookie jars.
For many, Christmas budgeting begins at the start of the year, not the end. Some oily raggers stash away their spare coins, others set up their own Christmas savings fund and make modest but regular contributions. That means the added cost of Christmas does not encroach on essential household costs like rent or mortgage, debt repayments, phone and power.
Frank and Muriel Newman are the authors of Living Off the Smell of an Oily Rag in NZ. SEnd oily rag tips to www.oilyrag.co.nz.